Hi,
I'm 26 years old and am suffering from pain every day. I've been to countless doctors and am not getting anywhere. I have a constant stinging, tearing, burning pain and it gets worse when I go to the bathroom, walk, bend, move, shift around, exercise, etc. I don't have the spastic pain that some speak about, but it hurts like hell passing a BM through. It's horrible and I can no longer stand it - I'm sure you can all relate. Here is a quick background:
-Had a hemorrhoidectomy done in April (5 months ago at this point) for internal hemorrhoids.
-Had to return to the hospital 3 days later because I was unable to go to the bathroom and I was bleeding excessively.
-When I finally did have a BM, it was horrible and I felt tearing and stinging ever since.
-I've tried all conservative treatments: Baths, miralax, rest, exercise, creams, diltiazem, prep H, hydrocortisone, protopic, etc. etc. The hydrocortisone took away the itch and burn, but the stinging, tearing is still there.
-It seems to retear after some BMs but it mostly re-tears pretty bad when I sit up or bend down to pick something up like at the gym.
I finally found 2 CR surgeons and I had the following told to me:
Doc 1: I can see very small fissures in the folds of your skin but they don't look serious enough for surgery.
Doc 2: I don't see any fissures but the symptoms you describe would point to that. There is a 70% chance that surgery will do anything for you because I see no evidence of a fissure. If it is a fissure, it has a high success rate.
I'm at such a loss here. Does anyone else re-tear when they bend, sit-up, or do an exercise at the gym like a crunch or deadlift? Do I even have fissures? That one doctor couldn't see one, but the pain gets to be unbearable. I'm so tired of this and at this point I don't care if I need surgery, I just want to know if it's a good chance that it's the right thing. Is it something that will make it worse? I don't want to get surgery and then re-tear every single time I try to bend or exercise for the rest of my life.
For those who got surgery and who lifted weights or ran before hand, did you re-tear constantly? Was the surgery successful? Do you still re-tear?
Any help is appreciated... I can't seem to get a consistent answer from any doctor. Thank you in advance.
EDIT: I also have a constant dull pain where the fissures are and it aches to sit for a period of time. Does this have anything to do with anything?

Hey there,
Welcome to the forum. Your not the first to report fissure symptoms after a hemorrhoidectomy.
Everything you've described sounds like a fissure. I also had the constant dull ache.
Statistically LIS has a 90% or higher success. It's considered the gold standard for treating fissures. I'm not sure where your surgeon gets 70%. Maybe that's his own experience with his patients. I would probably search for a CRS who has a better success with this type of surgery and is confident that it will work.
I didn't exercise with my fissure and still don't do anything beyond walking since my LIS a year ago so I can't help much there.
Typically lifting anything heavy or anything strenuous will tear a fissure and shouldn't be done even after LIS for quite sometime, but shouldn't be forever! It takes awhile for that area do regain strength and for things to return to normal as if a fissure never happened.
I don't know of anyone who felt they were worse off after LIS. The majority have reported being better off even if they healed slowly. Speaking for myself, I was much better off after my surgery! It was the best decision I made. Even being sore for a couple of weeks was nothing like dealing with the spasms and shards of glass that I had dealt with for 8 months.
I know this sucks but hang in there! There is a light at the end of the tunnel and if you could handle a hemorrhoidectomy then LIS will be nothing!!
Hope this helps! :) Hopefully others will add!

ps... I haven't had a re-tear since the day before my surgery.
It may take some time and patience but if you baby yourself for awhile and put things on hold that won't give you the best shot at healing then you can get your life back for good. LIS allows the fissure to heal but it's up to us to do all we can to speed that up. It sucks but it's worth it in the end!

Dawn, thanks so much for your quick reply =). I edited the post to be a little more clear about the 70% thing.
He said that he saw no evidence of any fissures, but if it was, the surgery has a very high success rate. When I asked him how sure he was that it was a fissure despite not seeing it, he said he was 70% sure it was a fissure and that LIS would be something that would benefit me.
I just want to have hope that I'll be able to lift weights again after the surgery and get back to my active lifestyle or if my hemorrhoidectomy has made me so prone to tearing that I will never be fully healed and will never be able to lift again. I just want hope. Were you able to bend over and sit up after healing from LIS? For example, I had a dumbbell in my hand yesterday, sat up, and felt the dreaded glass shard.

another thing I'd like to add:
Small or big shouldn't really matter. If it's chronic then it's probably not going to heal!

yankees144 wrote:Dawn, thanks so much for your quick reply =). I edited the post to be a little more clear about the 70% thing.
He said that he saw no evidence of any fissures, but if it was, the surgery has a very high success rate. When I asked him how sure he was that it was a fissure despite not seeing it, he said he was 70% sure it was a fissure and that LIS would be something that would benefit me.
I just want to have hope that I'll be able to lift weights again after the surgery and get back to my active lifestyle or if my hemorrhoidectomy has made me so prone to tearing that I will never be fully healed and will never be able to lift again. I just want hope. Were you able to bend over and sit up after healing from LIS? For example, I had a dumbbell in my hand yesterday, sat up, and felt the dreaded glass shard.

OH ok I get ya! Lol. Yes Lis will benefit you! I took it really easy on myself after my LIS for about 6 months. I lifted my grandbaby who was about 20lbs after I was 2 months post-op and have been doing it since. I've never had any trouble whatsoever. I've set directly on my butt since about 3 weeks post-op, bent over, and haven't had any problems. I just chose not to set on it before then, to let things heal without adding any pressure to an already swollen area- from surgery.
I'm a year post-op next month. I haven't had any re-tears ever from anything I've done. Life will get back to normal. It's just you may need to sacrifice a few months and let things heal. Everything we do that has to do with lifting puts pressure in that area. I think it's a really good idea to give it all you got and take it easy so you don't prolong your recovery. That's just my opinion :)

I'm happy to hear that everything worked out for you Dawn, and you were able to get back to your life. It must feel great to be able to move around and hold your grandbaby without worrying about that horrible pain anymore.
I suppose I should just get the surgery. Even if the fissure is small or not there, I think it might be worth a shot so that I can finally be free of this nightmare. I'm not even afraid of the surgery, I just don't want it to be unnecessary and then something goes wrong and I end up with complications in addition to the original problem.
I'd like to hear other input on this too =).

hello yankees. i have a similiar story as yours. i have constant throbbing pain also. the 1st crs told me that my fissure was healed but i continue to have pain. i went to a 2nd crs and all he was worried about was my contispation problems and didnt even exam me inside. i had a colonscopy done and they didnt see anything wrong either. i continue to have pain inside but do not know why? i dont know what to do anymore.. try for crs 3? this is dumb

are u on any cremes or anything? the 1st crs gave me analpram creme but it does not help me at all.

yankees144 wrote:I'm happy to hear that everything worked out for you Dawn, and you were able to get back to your life. It must feel great to be able to move around and hold your grandbaby without worrying about that horrible pain anymore.
I suppose I should just get the surgery. Even if the fissure is small or not there, I think it might be worth a shot so that I can finally be free of this nightmare. I'm not even afraid of the surgery, I just don't want it to be unnecessary and then something goes wrong and I end up with complications in addition to the original problem.
I'd like to hear other input on this too =).

Your Welcome!
Yes it is nice getting my life back. I don't think a CRS would do surgery without seeing a fissure.
Hopefully others who have had LIS will chime in. It's been kind of like a ghost town in here lately though. There's a lot of LIS experiences in the surgery threads. I read all of them before deciding to have it. There's also a LIS Stats Surgery Poll in the threads. Please keep in mind many folks post in here who are having a rougher recovery or in need of support and disappear....